1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for patching holes in walls. In particular the present invention relates to devices for repairing and patching holes in wall board or plaster walls.
2. Description of the Related Art
Patching holes in walls, and in particular wallboard or wall forming material such as Sheetrock(copyright), is a common problem encountered by building owners such as homeowners, apartment owners and managers, and the like. Holes are commonly made in walls and wallboard by objects thrown in the apartment by children or tenants, or by objects tilted against the walls. Quite commonly, door knobs will strike the wall adjacent to a door causing a hole in the wall or wall board the size of a door knob.
A common way to patch a hole in a wall is to place two wood strips inside the wallboard having the hole therein across the hole. A piece of wallboard is then cut and sized to fit in the hole and attached to the wood strips to plug the hole. Common putty or adhesive joint compound sometimes referred to as mud is then applied to the hole in several layers to fill the joints around the piece of wallboard and the edges of the hole. Commonly, paper tape may be placed over the joints around the piece of wallboard placed in the hole and adhesive joint compound or putty is applied to the tape to form a smooth surface suitable for painting. One problem encountered with this patching method is that the average person such as a homeowner or other repairman rarely has scrap sheet rock or wood strips available, and these items must be purchased separately.
Patch kits for repairing holes in walls and wallboard such are commonly available. Such patch kits commonly cause a bulge in the wall after the patch is completed. Additional devices and methods for patching and repairing walls are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,295,285; 3,583,122; 3,717,970; 3,874,505; 3,936,988; 4,297,823; 4,370,842; 4,406,107; 5,018,331; 5,299,404; 5,556,688; 5,687,528; 5,778,624; and 5,960,603, and in Canadian Patent 2,172,337.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a wall patching device for attachment to the inside of a wall adjacent to a hole in the wall to fill and patch the hole. The wall patching device includes a rigid plate having a plurality of holes therein, the plate having two wings connected by a raised center portion. The raised center portion preferably has a tether connected thereto for holding the wall patching device when the wall patching device is inserted into a hole in a wall or wallboard such as a hole made by a door knob striking a wall.
The wall patching device of the present invention has the advantage of being low in cost.
The wall patching device of the invention has additional advantage of enabling holes to be prepared without the necessity of utilizing small pieces of wallboard and wood strips to patch a hole in a wall.
The wall patching device of the invention has the additional advantage of being quickly and easily attached to the inside of a wall to repair a hole.